Thursday, January 31, 2013

Sophia & Jesus mixed

Sophia & Jesus mixed, January 23
Many scripture scholars have noted parallels between the
Jesus portrayed in the Fourth Gospel and Sophia in the Books of Wisdom, Proverbs, Baruch, and Sirach. “Sophia”
in Greek means wisdom and is grammatically feminine.

So much do the two figures—male and female—resemble each
other that verses about them are interchangeable, as the following list
demonstrates.

I challenge readers to discern of each line whether it refers to the Divine Feminine in Wisdom Literature or the Divine Masculine in the Fourth Gospel. Translations are from the NAB and the Inclusive Bible. I changed
words that gave away the gender.

Decide whether the original line was talking about Sophia or
Jesus. Answers—next week.

. . . was present to
God from the beginning.

. . . comes from
God; . . . dwells with God forever.

I came that they might
have life.

The one who finds me
finds life.

All who hold H__ fast
will live, and those who forsake H__ will die.

H__ whom you have
sent, . . . .

No one has gone up
into heaven except the one who came down from heaven.

___ is a breath of the
power of God, a pure light of the glory of the Most High.

To H__ own ___ came,
yet H__ own did not accept H__.

I called and you chose
not to listen, . . . I beckoned and you ignored me.

___ showers the earth
with insight and intelligence, and rewards those who espouse H__ gifts.

To love H__ is to love
life; those who seek H__ win H__ favor.

Those who follow H__ follow the Holy One; the Most High loves those who love H__.

Obey H__ and you will
be in a position of supreme authority;

Listen to H__ and you
will live in H__ heart of hearts.

Draw close to H__ with
all your heart and keep to H__ discipline at all costs.

Pursue H__, look for
H__, seek H__, and you will find H__—and once you hold H__, never let go.

We have seen H__ glory
. . . filled with enduring love.

___ will be your joy.

Whoever believes in
H__ may not die but may have eternal life.

All who cling to H__ will live, but those will die who forsake H__.

“ . . . all nations would follow me”

Goddess or god? January 31, 2013
I hope you had fun sorting out the Bible verses I quoted
last week mixing Sophia with Jesus, two parallel personifications of God. I had
fun choosing the verses.

Personifications are figurative images; they are poetic ways of referring
to what is not human as if it were human. Saying the stars danced, I personify
them. Saying the wind howled, I personify it. Saying time flew by, I personify
time. Saying God told me something, I personify God. The personifications Sophia and Jesus help us
relate to the mystery we call God.

Here are more parallels between the female and male God-images:

Both speak in long
discourses in first person, and both speak poetically.

Both reveal God and give
instruction on what pleases God.

Both walk the streets,
crying out their message and offering their gifts.

Both lead people to life
and immortality.

Both refer to their
followers as children and both use metaphors of food and water to describe
their spiritual gifts.

Both are rejected.

Following are the original Bible verses. Wisdom speaks in the Books of Wisdom, Proverbs, Baruch, and Sirach.

Jn 1:2:The Word was present to God from the
beginning.

Sir 1:1:Wisdom comes from YHWH; She dwells with God
forever.

Jn 10:10b:I came that they might have life.

Prov 8:35 The one who finds me finds life.Jn 6:57: One who feeds on me will have life because of me.

Bar 4:1b:All who cling to Her will live, but those will die who forsake Her.

Jn 3:16b: Whoever believes in Him may not die but may have eternal life. Baruch 4: 1b All who cling to Her will live, but those will die who forsake Her.Prov 3:18: She is a tree of life to those who grasp her.

Jn 3:13:No one has gone up into heaven except the one
who came down from heaven—the Son of Man.Wis 7:25:She is a breath of the power of God, a pure light of the glory of the Most High.

Jn 1: 11 To his own he
came, yet his own did not accept him.Prov 1: 24 I called and you chose not to listen, . . . I beckoned and you ignored me.Jn 14: 6: No one comes to the father except through me.

Sir 4:14 - 15: Those who serve Her serve the Holy One . . . One who obeys her judges nations.

Those who follow Her
follow the Holy One; the Most High loves those who love Her.

Obey Her and you will
be in a position of supreme authority;

Jn 3: The One whom God has sent speaks the words of God.Sir 1:17She showers the earth with insight and intelligence, and rewards those who espouse Her gifts.

Sir 6:27-28Draw close to Her with all your heart and
keep to Her discipline at all costs.

Pursue Her, look for
Her, seek Her, and you will find Her—and once you hold Her, never let go.

Sir 6: 29b She will be your joy.

Sophia and Jesus convey the same wisdom. Both are divine
personalities with God before the beginning of creation. Raymond Brown,
renowned as the foremost authority on the Fourth Gospel, asserts that the
feminine Wisdom and the masculine Logos share divine attributes. Parallel
passages from Wisdom literature and the gospel usually attributed to a “John”
(more about this to come) illustrate:

John 1: 1-2In
the beginning was the Word

the Word was in God’s presence

and the Word was God.

Proverbs 8: 23I have
been from everlasting,

in the beginning, before the world began.

John 1:3Through the Word all things came into being.

Proverbs 8: 30When the foundation of the world was laid

I
was the skilled artisan standing next to the Almighty.

My purpose in this exercise is to provoke realization that
exclusive and repetitive HeHimHis God-talk keeps us from distinguishing between
male images and the reality of God. It prevents appreciation of the
Transcendent Mystery beyond our capacity to comprehend. It directs us toward
worship of idols. If we want to advance in understanding of spiritual reality,
we must change our habits.

For help in preparing this I used An Introduction to New Testament Christology by the eminent Catholic
scholar Raymond Brown.

Theologian Elizabeth Johnson informs us further in She Who Is: The Mystery of God in Feminist Theological
Discourse. She noted the scholarly consensus on the influence of pagan Goddesses on the Jewish Sophia.

The cultural context that made possible a Hebrew personification
of God in female form was pagan Goddess worship.

So, following the trail of influences, we see that the Goddess is a prototype of Christ—a fact to mull over
if you’re a Christian ready for this.

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